Bond cut in fatal racing crash

WOODSTOCK – A judge reduced the bond of a Woodstock man accused of drag racing with two teens who crashed and died July 1.

Daniel L. Huber, 20, is charged with failure to report a fatal traffic crash and aggravated street racing. On Monday, Judge Sharon Prather reduced his bond to $45,000 from from $100,000.

Huber must post 10 percent, or $4,500, to be released. If he does post bond, he will be under supervision, which includes a curfew and random drug tests.

Assistant State’s Attorney Dave Johnston said Huber met with Alec Kaiser and Jacob Norys at the Mobil gas station in Woodstock to deliver marijuana to them, although it was unclear whether that occurred.

They are seen on a surveillance tape shortly before the crash, which occurred at 2:02 a.m. in the 14200 block of Davis Road.

Kaiser was driving the 2010 Hyundai Elantra and Norys was in the front passenger seat when the car swerved off the road, rolled and struck a tree and a brick pillar. The car hit and uprooted a second tree, which landed partly on the car.

Both 16-year-old boys died in seconds, the McHenry County Coroner’s Office said.

Johnston said Huber stopped, turned around, went in the other direction and did not report the crash to police. Huber also denied having a passenger in his car, but police later determined that was not true, authorities said.

According to a deputy’s report, when Huber was interviewed about nine days after the crash, he said, unprovoked, “Be sure to note that I was not there when he crashed.”

Huber’s mother briefly testified during his bond reduction hearing, saying the family could post about $2,000.

Her son could return home to live with her, she said, and that abiding by her rules has not been an issue in the past.

However, court records show Huber previously was charged several times with truancy, as well as possession of tobacco by a minor.

Johnston also said Huber has “a record of bad driving.” It includes a sentence of supervision for a June 2010 charge of failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, he said.

Kaiser and Norys were students at Woodstock High School and would have been juniors this school year. According to the coroner’s report, blood samples for both teens were negative for alcohol, cocaine, narcotics and marijuana.

Their urine, however, tested positive for marijuana, meaning the drug likely was ingested between one to four days before the crash.